The reviews seem mixed, but that probably won’t dissuade me from catching up with Spike Jonze’s Where The Wild Thngs Are. Most of the criticism revolves, predictably, about what happens when you translate into another medium something commonly perceived as “perfect.” By keeping intact the words and imagery, the following Wild Things short from ‘73 sidesteps all the “rumpus.”

Fascinating read in Sunday’s NYT Magazine charting the ups and downs of Spike Jonze, and his efforts to bring to the screen an adaptation of Where The Wild Things Are that didn’t feel studio-diluted. It’s been a long, difficult march, but even before Wild Things (and before, for that matter, either Malkovich or Adaptation), Jonze was preparing to tackle another children’s classic, Crockett Johnson‘s Harold And The Purple Crayon. He didn’t get far with it, but his efforts did yield a little-seen film test, which, thanks to YouTube, you can now watch below: